We first got excited about Kieran Timberlake Associates’[2]Loblolly House[3]over a year ago[3], when it was still just the promising conceptual brainchild of the Philadelphia-based firm. The Loblolly House[2] has since been completed (AND featured in the January 2007 issue of Wired as one of seven “green and high-tech” projects), and demonstrates a truly unique approach to prefab and an eye-catching aesthetic to boot. Named for the tall pine trees native to the Chesapeake Bay, Maryland site, the Loblolly House[2] represents a non-traditional, component-based approach to prefab construction, in which a “kit-of-parts,” much like in automotive assembly, can be unbolted and rebuilt in different configurations for a different site or house. These “Elements of Architecture,”[3] as KTA[4] calls them, range in size and function, from the prefab room modules to the aluminum frame, green roof, and coffered floor system.

Photos by Barry Halkin

Kieran Timberlake Associates[3] have long been pioneers of the sustainable architecture movement, constantly finding new ways to mitigate environmental impact and quietly integrate green technologies into comfortable spaces. The Loblolly House[2] is built on raised structural pilings to reduce site disruption, and all materials are both supplied and produced within 500 miles of the site. Aside from their sustainable construction processes, the house boasts a lengthy list of green technologies, from the green roof to high-performance wall and skins and natural ventilation.

The most exciting new news? The Loblolly house is slated to go into mass production with Steve Glenn’s Living Homes[5] prefab development company – meaning some day admirers will be able to purchase their own version of this gorgeous home at an affordable price.
+ Kieran Timberlake Associates